Apparatus for removing static electricity from paper, &amp;c.



PATENTED DEC. 18, 1904 W. H. CHAPMAN. I APPARATUS FOR REMOVING STATIC ELECTRICITY PROM PAPER, &o.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8, 1904.

'NO MODEL.

UNITED STATES PATENT GFFIQQ Patented December 13, 1904.

WILLIAM H. CHAPMAN, OF PORTLAND, MAINE, ASSlGNOli/IO THE PORT- LAND COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE, (JORPORI-ULIUN OF Mi-UNE.

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING STATIC ELECTRICITY FROM PAPER, duo.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,599, da ed December 13, 190 Application filed February 8, 1904:. Serial No. 192,524. (No model.)

To (all/whom it pea/7 concern.-

Be it known that LVVILLIAM H. CHAPMAN, a citizen of the United States of America, and

a resident of Portland, Cumberland county, State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Removing Static Electricity from Paper, &c., of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to the neutralization of static charges of electricity in various substances by the application of charges of opposite polarity as these substances are passing through the ordinary industrial proc esses--as, for instance, paper passing through calenders or over printing-presses or being manufactured into paper bags.

The general principle on which my invention is based is stated in the law that like electric charges repel each other and unlike charges attract each other and tend to come together and producea neutral condition. If one body having an electric charge is moved in proximity to another body having a charge of opposite polarity, the charge in the first body may be neutralized by receiving the proper quantity from the second body; but if the charge in the second body is all the time of one polarity it is a matter of fine regulation to 'make it deliver just enough to nontralize the other body, and therefore alternating charges are preferable for the purpose, because an alternate charge has successive y different polarities, and I have made the discovery that a fixed electric charge in-one body will draw forth from an adjacent body charged alternately with positive and negative the right kind and quantity to exactly neutralize itself and isfin other words, self-selective as to kind and quantity, and the passage of the necessary quantity across the intervening space is made easy either by high voltage or reduced surface of the body supplying the neutralizing charge or both these factors combined. a

provide apparatus that shall generate and distribute the proper electrical charges in a reliable and eilicicnt manner. For this purpose I make use of an altcrnating-currcnt trans- In practically carrying out my invention I former supplied with current either from a 5 small alternator installed for the purpose or from an ordinary alternating-currcnt lighting system, such as in common use in manufacturing establishments where my device would be used. The transformer is of special design, having apriinary coil consisting of two or three hundred turns of coarse wire and asecondary consisting of forty thousand to sixtythousand turns of very fine wire in fact, the finest wire that it is practicable to handle, (like No. s0.) \"Vhen the voltage applied to the primary is one hundred and ten, the voltage in the secondary becomes by ratio of turns in the windings two hundred times as great, or about twenty-two thousand volts; but if the primary coil was connected directly to the one-hundred-and-ten-volt supply-wires of a lighting-circuit the transformer would be capable of giving dangerous shocks, and to avoid this condition I place a non-in- 7o ductive resistance in series with the primary coil by which the current output of the secondary coil is limited and is safe to handle. If, for instance, the primary coil has two hundred turns of wire and the secondary has 5 forty thousand turns and we place a non-inductive resistance of fifty-five ohms in series with the primary coil and with theonehundred-and-ten-volt supply-circuit, the greatest quantity that can pass through the primary So coil under any conditions, even assuming that the primary has no resistance, would be one hundred and ten volts divided by fifty-live ohms equal two ampcrcs, and then by ratio of 2907,, 2 z .01 :0,000 ampere. The current in the secondary is thus limited to one onc-huiulredth part of an ampere, which is perfectly harmless, and this limitation of currentis no detriment to the 9 useful object of the transformer, because of the fact that the charges on such substances turns in the two coils we have as paper, while having a pressure of thousands of volts, are of such an exceedingly small quantity that the current required to neutralize them cannot even be measured in terms of thousandths of an ampere, and while the voltage capacity of the transformer may accompanying drawings, in which* standing of my invention.

treatment.

can

need to be from five thousand to twenty thousand v0 ts its current capacity need not exceed one one-hundredth ampere for the severest work found in any of the industrial processes before referred to.

'1 illustrate my invention by means of the Figure l is a diagrammatic view of the delivering nd of a paper-bag machine with the electrica apparatus necessary to charge the conductor. Fig. '2.is a side view of the bar used for supporting the wire, and Fig. 3 1s a cross-section on said bar at w a: of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 1, frepresents an endless belt running over pulleys 2', v1, 1?, and i and 'g is the delivering-belt on which the paper bags 0 are brought to the belt f. The belt g runs over pulleys c" and i and pulleys 71., it, and if, bringing the bags to a delivering-box j, where they are stacked up. The-bags leave the belt f when'it passes around the pulley i and it is at this point that I prefer to place the conductor for neutralizing the electricity of the paper bags. The delivery portion of the paper-bag machines is old and well'known and forms no portion of my invention and requires no further illustration for the under- Extending across the machine from one side to the other at the point where the bags are delivered is a conduetor, preferably in the form of a fine-wire,

which is placed parallel with and a short distance away from the surface of the paper bags as they are delivered from the belt.

This bar may be placed so that the wire is on'iy one-half inch or less from the surface oi the material to be operated upon, or it may be placed at a distance of several inches and still perform its function; but in case the number of alternations is very low I have found that some attention must be given to the relation of distance of the wire to voltage and to speed of the material under treatment, better results being obtained by placing the wire at a distance of an inch or two and using higher voltage, as the influence is then distributed a greater distance each side of the wire on the surface of the material under As here shown, the wire at is supported on a rod m, which is preferably of wood, one end of the wire being secured by a screw and washer n, which also secures the end of the feed-wire if. The opposite end'of the wire isconnecmd to the end of a spring for the purpose of keeping it straight at all times.

To the ends of the rod are secured brackets 47.", by means of which the rod is secured to the frame of the machine. For the purpose As here shown, the spring consists of a metal angle-piece M, the limb to which the of supplying to the wire an alternating current of high voltage I make use of a transformer a. connected with the wire by the wire ta The primary coil of the transformer is connected with a suitable source of supply,

by which analternating current is obtained, and this connection is made through a noninductive resistance, so arranged that a portion may be cut out to regulate the quantity of current. As here shown, the primary coil of the transformer is connected by a line a with the resistance-coil 7), which in turn connects in series with a coil 0, so arranged that a Whole or a portion may be short-circuited by means of a suitable switch. As here shown, one of the two line-terminals, a, connects with the primary circuit of the transformer, and the other one, 9 connects with. the lever 5 of a switch (Z, containing four segments 1, 2, 3, and 1. Segment L connects with the extreme end of the coil 0 and is designed to cut out the entire coil, and segments 3 and 2 cut out less amounts connecting with points between the ends. Segment 1 is an idle segment, so that when the lever rests on it the current passes direct from the terminal 7' through the entire coil 0 through a wire connecting r with the end of the coil. When the lever is turned to segment 2, a portion of the coil is short-circuited, and when it is turned to segments 3 and 4; still more of the coil is short-circuited. Thus by moving the arm 5 more or less current is passed through the primary circuit of the transformer; but the resistance-coil b is always in and cannot be cut out, and this resistance is sufficiently great to prevent a dangerous amount of current from passing at any time. The alternating current is thus transformed-to a high voltage, and this transmitted through the wire neutralizes the static electricity of the paper bags, which automatically selects and becomes neutralized by the charge of opposite polarity in the alternating charge.

Instead of the transformer above described I have in some cases made use of an induotion-coil of the ordinary kind having a vibrator with excellent results, and this is a very convenient way of obtaining the alterations of voltage where a battery is the only available source of current.

It is evident that various modifications may. be made in this apparatus while still keeping within the spirit of the invention. i

I claim 1 The herein-described apparatus for neutralizing charges of static electricity in moving paper orother like substances,'consisting of a wire stretched adjacent to the moving face of the material and means for applying an alternating charge of electricity to said wire.

2. The herein-described apparatus forneutralizing charges of static electricity in moving paper or otherlike substance, consisting "rt mess of a Wire stretched adjacent to themoving iace oi the material and means for applving to the Wire an alternating charge of electricity of high voltage.

3. The herein-described apparatus for Ilentralizing charges of static electricity in moving paper or other like substance, consisting of a conductor stretched adjacent to the surface of the moving materiai and a transformer connected with said conductor and means for supplying an alternating current to said transformer.

4. The herein-described apparatus for neutralizing charges of static electricity in movthe primary circuit oi said transfer-filer, means for varying the said resistance and means for supplying an alternating current.

6. The herein-described apparatus for neutraiizing charges of static electricity in machines handiing paper or other like substance consisting a Wceden bar adapted to be secured the machine adjacent to the moving" paper, a Wire stretched parallel to the surface of said bar and means for: applying to said wire an electric current,

7. The herein-described ap 'aaratns new.

traiizing charges of static electricity in machines handiing moving paper or ctherlike substance consisting of a Wooden bar, a spring" on one end 01? said bar a wire secured to said spring, a connection at the opposite end of said bar to which said wire is attached and means for applying electric cnrrenttc said Wire.

Signed at Portland, Maine, this 2d day of FbTU&Ty,-= N04,

Witnesses:

S. W. Barns, Li M. GODFREY. 

